Let's roll up our sleeves and solve this. We have 553 and we're going to multiply it by 23, essentially adding 553 to itself 23 times.
Step 1: 0 + 553 = 553
Step 2: 553 + 553 = 1106
Step 3: 1106 + 553 = 1659
Step 4: 1659 + 553 = 2212
Step 5: 2212 + 553 = 2765
Step 6: 2765 + 553 = 3318
Step 7: 3318 + 553 = 3871
Step 8: 3871 + 553 = 4424
Step 9: 4424 + 553 = 4977
Step 10: 4977 + 553 = 5530
Step 11: 5530 + 553 = 6083
Step 12: 6083 + 553 = 6636
Step 13: 6636 + 553 = 7189
Step 14: 7189 + 553 = 7742
Step 15: 7742 + 553 = 8295
Step 16: 8295 + 553 = 8848
Step 17: 8848 + 553 = 9401
Step 18: 9401 + 553 = 9954
Step 19: 9954 + 553 = 10507
Step 20: 10507 + 553 = 11060
Step 21: 11060 + 553 = 11613
Step 22: 11613 + 553 = 12166
Step 23: 12166 + 553 = 12719

So, 553*23 = 12719